for those who die before they are cleansed from their sins; but it asserted that the souls of the just go to heaven immediately on departing from the body,2 having "entirely satisfied for

is certain that no orthodox divine now doubts whether there is such a place as purgatory ; yet among the ancients, nothing, or at least very little, was said about it. Nor do the Greeks to this day believe in its existence. Let any one, who wishes, read the ancient Greek commentaries, and I think he will find no discourse, or at least very few indeed, upon the subject. For while no regard was paid to Purgatory, no one sought after Indulgences, since their value depends altogether upon that doctrine. Seeing, therefore, that Purgatory has so recently been known and received in the universal church, who can now be surprised that in the infancy of the church no use was made of Indulgences. These were introduced after that mankind began to fear the torments of Purgatory." Geddes, p.110.

2 It was a common opinion of the ancient Fathers that the souls of the just went immediately to heaven. ، Irenaeus, at the end of his 5th Book; Justin. Quaest. 76; Tertullian, in his 4th Book against Marcion; Origen, in his 7th Homily upon Leviticus, and a great many other places; Lactantius, in the 21st Chapter of his 7th Book; Victorinus, in his commentary upon the words, "I saw under the altar," Rev. vi. 9; Ambrosius, in his 2d Book of Cain and Abel; Chrysostom, in his 39th Homily upon those words, "If in this life only," &c. 1 Cor. xv. 19.; The author of the imperfect work, in his 34th Homily upon St. Matthew; Austin, in his Enarration upon the 36th Psalm; Theodoret, in his Commentaries upon the 11th to the Hebrews; Oecumenius, in his Commentaries upon the same place; Theophylact, in his Commentaries upon the 23d of St. Luke; Aretho, on those words, How long, O Lord," Rev. vi. 10, &c.; Euthymius, on the 23d of St. Luke; and Bernard, in his Sermon upon All Saints' Day. And to Pope John the 22d, being charged with having believed this doctrine, Bellarmin returns the following answer." Joannem hunc 22. dum revera sensisse," &c. "This John seems truly to have been of opinion that the souls of the departed would not see God till after the resurrection: but he entertained this opinion when it was lawful to think so without incuring the danger of heresy, for the church had then promulgated no definition on the subject." This "confession makes the doctrines of praying to Saints, Purgatory, and Indulgences, to be very new articles of faith." Geddes, p. 110.

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the punishment due to the sins that they have committed." Those also in purgatory were said to be translated to heaven as soon as they had made the same satisfaction.

Then followed the confession and affirmation, "that the saints now reigning with Christ in heaven, are to be reverenced and invoked, and that they offered prayers to God for us." Their relics and images 3 also were to" to be preserved, used, and reverenced, with due honour and veneration."

"That our Lady the most Holy Virgin Mary, is the proper and true mother of God," was the next article of belief; to which was added, her perpetual virginity and freedom from sin. The doctrine of indulgences, the Pope's supremacy, and the oath of obedience due to him as the vicar of Christ, were confidently affirmed.

The Archbishop next anathematized every thing contrary to the decrees of the council of Trent, and to whatever the Roman Church has determined to be true. Then followed an enumeration of the heresies and heretics to be cursed.*

He maintained, that there was but one law "in pure Christianity;" in opposition to those who, he said, "ignorantly taught, that there

3 ""

Gyraldus, a learned papist, in the 18th page of the history of the Gods, speaking of images in the church of Rome, saith," At de istiusmodi, &c. "But concerning that mode of worship, we must whisper rather than speak openly: it would therefore be more agreeable to treat of the affairs of Hippocratus and Angerona. Nevertheless, I shall not omit the subject altogether, but will say, that we Christians (as at one time the Romans) were without images in what is called the primitive church." (Geddes, p. 111.)

In this catalogue he again mentioned Diodorus and Theodorus. His misrepresentation of their character and doctrines has already been exposed. Vide Book iii. chap. 5.

66

was one law of St. Thomas, and another law of St. Peter, and that they were so different as not to have any thing to do with each "other." 5

The prelate concluded this confession with an oath, never to receive into the church and bishopric of the Serra any prelate or governor, except those whom the Pope of Rome should send. He then renounced and anathematized the Patriarch of Babylon, in the same terms as he had just used in his anathema against Nestorius.

As soon as the Archbishop had pronounced this confession of faith, a murmur of disapprobation arose in the assembly. The Christians who were dissatisfied with it said, that they had no need of a new confession of faith, as it would lead to the conclusion, that they had not

5 This was an artful device to disguise the actual question that the Syrians had hitherto maintained. They only desired to establish their independence of Rome, and not to assert that the purity of Christianity was affected, whether taught by St. Thomas or St. Peter.

Pagninus Gaudentius, a learned papist, in his second book, De Vita Christianorum, makes this judicious reflection upon the church of Rome's long Creed. Mirabitur aliquis, &c." "Now that the boundaries of Christian divinity are spread out so wide, one is astonished that the most ancient writers, who flourished before the time of Constantine, comprised in so short a compass, and with so few rules, the leading heads of the Christian religion, and the whole of the mysteries delivered by the Apostles. Read Justin and Tertullian, and observe how moderate they are when they describe what Christians may understand by divine faith. But subsequent ages have explained and added so much, that our divinity would fill immense volumes. He, therefore, who should undertake to treat of Christianity before the age of Constantine, must take pains to expose the increase of Catholic doctrines that has since been made; and, besides, I am not certain that it would not prove offensive to our ears." Geddes, p. 115.

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till then been acquainted with Christianity. Menezes endeavoured to pacify them by declaring, that all Christians were bound to give an account of their faith whenever required, or when any doubt arose as to the truth of what they believed. He also appealed to their sense of propriety to say, whether, since he, who likewise was a Christian, and the father and prelate of all Eastern Christians, had made this profession, it was not very reasonable that they, who had till that time been separated from the Holy Roman Church, should likewise make it, and thereby give proof of the obedience which they had promised to render him in future.

The Archbishop's measures were too well concerted for any partial feeling of discontentment materially to affect them. It was evident that the people were not called to the synod to give their advice, but to yield implicit obedience to all that he pretended to propound for their consideration. This the majority understood, and the Archdeacon immediately repeated the confession of faith, in his own name, and that of the whole Syrian Church. The cattanar Jacob, interpreter of the synod, then mounted the preacher's chair, and read slowly, and in an audible voice, the same confession of faith; while the whole assembly, on their knees, repeated it after him, word for word. The reading ended, all the cattanars approached the Archbishop, and, kneeling down one after another, took an oath, upon the missal and a crucifix, henceforth to conform to what had just been read; to live and die in this faith; and to conform in all things to the authority of the Pope. This they confirmed by signing a com

6 Geddes makes the following remarks on the declaration to which these people subscribed respecting the papal supre

pendium of the confession, which Menezes presented to each individual for the purpose.

During this proceeding, one of the cattanars in the assembly, a man of considerable property and influence, and a great favourite with the rajah of Turubulé, rose up, and drew together about seventy persons under the porch of the church, who were soon joined by many others. The noise and tumult which they raised gave the Archbishop some uneasiness, and he deputed two of the most respectable Syrians to ascertain the cause of the disturbance. The only answer they returned him was, an expression of their hope, that when they should have submitted to the Pope, and to the Portuguese Bishops, the king of Portugal would take them under his protection, and relieve them of the tribute they now paid to their heathen sovereigns, and especially from an odious imposition which the rajah of Cochin exacted, and in which the other princes of Malabar were be

macy. "There is no Christian Church, besides the Roman and a handful of Maronites, who, put together, are not the fourth part of Christendom, but what deny this supremacy, and do, with pope Gregory I., condemn it as an anti-christian and heretical usurpation. It is nothing so much as this magisterial pride of the Roman Church that makes the papists to be by much the most generally hated sect of people in the whole world; for, not to speak of the Jews, Mahomedans, and heathens, who hate them infinitely beyond all other sects of religion, the Greek and Alexandrian Christians have them in such detestation, as to reckon an altar defiled by a Roman priest's having celebrated thereon: and for the Muscovites, Possevinus tells us, their great imprecation is, I hope to live to see thee so far abandoned, as to turn papist.' The Abyssinian Christians, as Godinus tells us, do not only condemn the romanists as heretics, but do affirm that they are worse than Mahometans, and in the 28th chapter of the first book of Archbishop Menezes' visitation, it is said that the Chaldæan and Malabar Christians did so abhor the pope, that they could not endure so much as to hear him named." p. 117.

A. D.

1599.